The Eagles have moved on from Tre Sullivan and are bringing in a safety who was an athletic freak coming out of Utah a couple years ago.
Sullivan, 24, came to the Eagles in 2017 as an undrafted free agent out of Shepherd University and after spending most of his rookie season on the practice squad, Sullivan actually played in 12 games and started one in 2018.
But Sullivan was buried on the depth chart this summer and this move will give the Eagles a chance to take a closer look at Jason Thompson, a college quarterback-turned-safety who had an incredible athletic showing at Utah’s pro day back in 2017.
Thompson’s story is a pretty unique one. He began his college career as a quarterback at Wyoming, but transferred to Utah and became a safety in 2015. He played his last two years at Utah as a safety and had 21 tackles and a fumble recovery. He was mostly a special teams player.
Since entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent, Thompson has bounced around a bunch. Most recently, he was with the Falcons for two months this summer. But he’s also been with the Patriots, Bears, Seahawks, Cowboys and Packers.
Why does the 25-year-old Thompson keep getting signed despite having never played in a regular-season game?
Because he’s a freak athlete. Check out his numbers from the Utah pro day in 2017. In parenthesis is how he would have ranked among safeties at that year’s combine.
NFL
40-yard time: 4.45 (t-4th)
Vert jump: 39.5 (3rd)
Broad jump: 11-1 (2nd)
Short shuttle: 4.01 (1st)
3-cone: 6.57 (1st)
Bench: 20 reps (t-1st)
That’s enough reason to think Thompson could at least create a role for himself on special teams in the NFL. The Eagles also just added Rudy Ford, another safety who could fill a special teams role.
And the Eagles have been trying hard to upgrade the safety position all offseason. Check out the list of safeties they’ve brought in since the last season ended: Andrew Sendejo, Johnathan Cyprien, Ford, Trae Elston, Blake Countess, Godwin Igwebuike and now Thompson. (Countess and Igwebuike are no longer with the team.)
The problem for Thompson is that training camp is long over and he’ll have to prepare for a game in two days. But it’s another chance for him to put out film and a chance for the Eagles to get an athlete in the program for a closer look.
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